About

Hi! I am Julie Desloge, Christian, wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, recreational triathlete, and breast cancer survivor. You’ll notice I listed survivor last. Most times I wouldn’t list it at all, but for the sake of what I am doing, there it is, breast cancer survivor. Survivor, that’s an important word when it is sitting next to the other two words: breast cancer. You’ve found me probably because you have made a donation to my fundraising page or you are about to do so. I’m glad you are here to support breast cancer research so there are more survivors like me.

In February of 2008 I was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma that was identified as triple negative. To summarize what that means, I had an aggressive cancer and life was going to be different for a while. I went through chemo, a lumpectomy, and radiation over the following months and lived the life of a cancer patient. It wasn’t easy because I was homeschooling our 3 children who were at the time, 11, 8, and 6 and trying to keep things as normal as possible. I completed treatment in September of 2008. I was tired, hairless, a little worse for wear, but also cancer free. I have remained cancer free for almost 10 years.

At the end of 2009, my husband, Denis, decided he wanted to do a triathlon, (“just a short one,” he said), so I signed on to train with him and in the spring of 2010 completed my first sprint triathlon. From then on, we were hooked. Over the years that followed, we kept on training, doing races, and making some wonderful new friends. We even volunteered at the Ironman World Championships in Kona twice and have plans to return again. My oldest son, now in college, wrote a wonderful tribute to me when I finished my first Half Ironman race in St. George, Utah in 2016.

In 2018, I will celebrate 10 years as a survivor. To commemorate this, I want to complete my first ever full Ironman race. I’m just an average athlete, (in the bottom 15% of my age group), but that doesn’t matter. I enjoy just being out there training, making friends, breathing the fresh air, and challenging myself. Training for, and participating in triathlons has helped me to become more healthy after cancer, and given me a wonderful diversion from the thoughts that follow you around as a cancer survivor. But, I want to make this event be more than just about me. That is why I want to use it as an opportunity to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. It is the men and women who do the research and develop treatments that got me here today, for which I am thankful. I am also thankful to the women who were brave and enrolled in clinical trials so that women like me can have the cutting edge treatment to survive and thrive. This is a way to give back to them, and forward to future survivors.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you follow along on my journey. My plan is to honor those who have fought this battle either in their memory or as survivors. Please, if you are donating, leave me the names and stories of yourself or loved ones with breast cancer. I want to carry those names through the race across the finish line, and I want to know the personal story that goes with the names.